What Makes a Father
by A M3mb3r123
Summary: Harley Keener was hoping that Tony would act as a father-figure after he moved to New York. When he realizes Peter has taken that place, a new father-figure steps in.


**A/N **enjoy this fic i wrote in an hour because i saw a thing on tumblr and needed an excuse to procrastinate. on that note, if anyone would want to study my spanish for me, by all means go ahead

Somehow, Harley knew this day would come but he didn't think it would happen today.

He'd moved to New York after the Snap, his mother and sister dying in the aftermath. Harley had stayed there all through the summer and he'd had a great time with Tony and Pepper. But that had changed when Peter got back.

Harley had heard of Peter, the boy who apparently had a personal internship with Tony. Peter had been away for quite some time on a trip around Europe with his classmates and finally made it back a couple weeks before school started.

Those couple weeks, Harley noticed things. (Growing up a small gossiping town makes you that way) He noticed how Tony called Peter "kid" and not by his last name. He noticed that they spent time together outside of the lab. He even noticed that Tony got worried every time Peter called without texting first.

But Harley hadn't realized the extent of their relationship until he saw Tony run towards a bloodied and bruised Peter and hold him like a child. The usual nickname was replaced with quite mutters of "Shh" and "Son."

So Peter was like a son to Tony. In that moment, Harley didn't take the time to notice that Peter was wearing a Spiderman costume, or that the pair had sunk to the floor, or how gut-wrenching Peter's sobs were. All Harley did was turn around and all but run through the hallway he'd just came from.

The only place that didn't feel like Tony, like his desperate hope for a father figure was the roof. Harley had sometimes come up here when his head was spinning and he couldn't get it to stop, but never had he done it at night. He shoved his hands in his jean pockets and peered out over the city, exhaling harshly.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" Harley smirked and kept his back to the voice.

"Figured I'd send a letter by carrier pigeon. Why the hell are you here?" Harley still didn't turn around, but could hear the person getting up and walking towards him.

"I fucking hate birds." Sure enough, Bucky Barnes ended up right next to him, hands also shoved into his pockets.

"Correction, you hate Sam."

"Yeah, but he is a bird and has there for tainted the entirety of bird-kind." Harley shared a short laugh with Bucky. They'd only met a handful of times, Bucky usually kept to himself on the floor that he and Steve shared, but he and Harley had always seemed to get along, probably because Harley admirred how Bucky could be honest and blunt when the situation called for it most.

"Seriously though Kid, it's not like you to mope around in the middle of the night." Bucky turned towards Harley and put his real hand on the boy's shoulders.

"Don't let this crap hole of a world get you down." It was in that moment that Bucky decided to adopt Harley.

It was odd how the next few weeks progressed. Harley didn't confront Tony about Peter and, instead, kept to his own. For the most part.

It seemed as if Bucky was on the roof every night. Harley started going there to blow off steam and he and Bucky slowly started to relate more to one another. Soon their shared banter turned into "come at me old man!" and that soon turned into defense training.

Defense training turned into Harley helping Bucky with his arm when it malfunctioned. That turned into the pair talking mechanics and science. Bucky has always been fascinated with new technology and Harley was happy to teach him. Their relationship turned into a strong mentor-mentee one.

Harley had also gotten to know Peter better. They were both seniors and Pepper had insisted that Harley attend Midtown. He joined Peter's friend group quite easily and when he wasn't with Bucky, he was with them.

It wasn't long before Harley internally forgave Peter for having Tony as a father figure. He learned that Peter was one of those people you can help but to love and, for Peter, Harley felt like he would do anything for him.

Tony had had a rough day. Pepper had made him go to some business meetings, Fury was down his back about possible mission whatnots, and on top of all that, he'd seen Bucky side-hug Keener. Tony let Bucky stay at the tower only because of Steve and a mutual promise to not cross paths. He didn't want him hurting the boy.

Harley had also had a rough day. His nightmares about the snap had come back full force. The boy couldn't sleep and couldn't think. He'd skipped his morning workout with Bucky, not caring. Bucky, on the other hand, did care. He'd come to his room the second FRIDAY told him Harley hadn't slept.

When he walked in, he found Harley shaking on his bed, a haunted look in his eyes. When he sat next to him, Harley immediately fell on Bucky's shoulder and sobbed.

It was so unlike him that Bucky was taken aback. He put and arm around the boy and let him cry, knowing from experience that, sometimes, it was the only thing a person could do. After while, Bucky got Harley to get up and shower. They went to get coffee afterwards and talked through the nightmares.

By the time the two made it back to the tower, it was late and Harley was exhausted. Bucky walked him to his floor, despite his agreement with Stark, and assured Harley that if he needed anything, he could come down to his floor.

That is when Tony saw them. Rage boiled inside him as he got up from his seat, closing the distance in a near instant.

"Get your fucking hands off of him!" Tony tried to get between the two, but Bucky had moved faster, safely in front of Harley.

"Leave me alone Stark, I was just dropping the kid off." Bucky's tone was even, but there was fire in his eyes.

"As if!" Tony scoffed, arms folded across his chest. "You stay the fuck away from my kid."

"I'm not your kid Tony." Harley walked out from behind Bucky and stood right in front of Tony, towering over the man. "If I was your kid, you'd've noticed my general state of well-being, which is not 'well' by the way."

"What, and you think Terminator over here does?"

"Bucky is the closest thing I've ever had to a father! Not like you'd know how a father is supposed to act!" Tony was shocked by Harley's words, but in that moment, rage clouded and common sense Tony night have used.

"You're right Keener, you're not my kid. Peter is my kid and I'm the only father figure he's got. And Peter is a hell of a lot better at being a son than you would ever be!" Tony regretted the words as soon as the flew out of his mouth.

"I'm glad we see eye to eye then." Harley turned around and walked back towards the elevator. Bucky gave Stark one last death glare before following.

In the following months, Harley avoided Tony at all costs. Tony has apologized so many times. Harley had acknowledged each one, but tried to keep his distance as much as possible. He moved in with Steve and Bucky, both of them taking on parental roles, despite Harley insisting that he was an "adult" and "fine."

Things got more difficult when Harley and Peter started dating. Harley loved the shy, curly-haired boy with his whole heart and had vowed a long time ago to do anything for him. Even if this meant spending more time around Tony.

Eventually, the two were able to reach an understanding, for Peter's sake. But the words were always with Harley. He'd never told Peter, but some days he resented Tony so much that is was hard to be in the same building as him. Harley hated Tony.

Some wounds never heal.

**A/N** y'all, i used to write so much angst. it was nice to get back to the angst tho, especially sense i haven't written much with this whole fandom

side note: parley is my otp and you can't convince me otherwise


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